Symphony of Legends
by Sirens Muse
Summary: Kestral, a young bard and an arrogant Elven necromancer along with their group of misfits are the only hope of Neverwinter. Game plot without the henchmen. Rated for language and upcoming chapters.
1. Graduation

Disclaimer: I own my characters. I do not, however, own the basis for the plot, nor do I own Neverwinter Nights.

Author Note: Okay, so a friend of mine stuffed a disk into my hand and said, "Play this. You'll like it."

I've been a fan of RPGs since...well since I was a kid. My dad went through his RPG stage when I was thirteen...maybe fourteen. I learned a lot about them from watching him play. In my absolute love of fiction an RPG seemed the closest I could get to living in a fantasy world. Well that's what my little Anna would call a "duh!", but I think you know what I mean. Hey, you get to create characters! How much more cool can you get? So anyway, this love of RPGs was something that not many girls thought to highly of when I was in junior high and high school. So hey, that's how I met the guys! And my true love. Big smile Anyway, my love of Neverwinter came just recently. I've been too busy for much "Raven Time", so my friend gave me the disk and told me to lose myself for a few hours. "Take a break, Raven." he said.

Who was I to refuse? I fell in love with the world and I HAD to write something about it. I mean, with as many characters as I could create, a storyline, magic...sooooo here we are! I had to write in first person because Kestral was(is) my character. I shaped her after myself, as much as I could. Mainly in looks, however the dark red hair looks like the color of wine. So that was rather strange. Anyway, I've taken a lot out of the original game plot. Namely the henchmen. I might have them a little, but I like my own characters more. Yes, I made more than one. I couldn't help it. : ) Well, enjoy my newest (but not my only) obsession!

Raven "Siren's Muse"

Chapter One: Graduation

In Which We Meet Yours Truly

I like to sing. I suppose that's a good thing, since I am a bard, however it wasn't exactly relevant to the story. Well it is, but it's a rather lame thing to say. I guess I ought to have introduced myself, as thus, I am Kestral Fynn, daughter of a long line of bards and keepers of ages of history. Literally and figuratively. My young life was pretty basic. I was trained in Bardic Lore since infancy and trained in the fighting arts as soon as I could walk--or maybe it was, pick up a dagger--either way, my father had been a bard, while my mother had been a paladin. My father taught me to sing and cast spells, my mother had taught me to chop off people's heads and generally kick butt. Odd family? It gets better! My brother forsook both paths and became a monk. Yes, a monk. I guess he thought it would be cool to go around chanting spells and not wearing armor when he fights. My Great Uncle...or someone or another on my mother's side had been a monk, I guess that's where he got it. My mother's family had a wide array of magic users, but my dad's side was all bards. I guess that's why they didn't like it when he broke tradition and married a paladin. Of course, my odd family gets even better. Not only was my mother a paladin, but she was also an elf. And my father was human. So that makes me a half-elf. I didn't inherit the pointed ears like I envied my mother for, but the more rounded, only slightly pointed ears of the dreaded half-elf. Perfect. Simply perfect. Of course, if not for my features, any human would think me simply human. But it's my features that give me away. I have the green elven eyes. My skin is pale as winter and my eyes are slightly slanted with arching brows that make me always look like I think everyone is below me. Heh. Sometimes my looks come in handy. Unfortunately, most of the time they're a giant pain in the rear. But this isn't about my looks. Nor is it really about my family. It's about me...and Neverwinter. You see, Neverwinter fell to siege in my last year of training at the academy. Not siege by human foes, but of illness. A plague of massive proportions. Those who contracted it never escaped. There was no cure. My mother and father died from it while I was in training. My brother had left a year earlier on some fool quest for communion with whatever or another. Something about his _ki_. I don't know why the fool couldn't commune in Neverwinter. Maybe he could have helped our parents. Although, I guess I'm glad he didn't stay. He might have died too. Sometimes, the simple thought that I still have a living family member out there somewhere is the only thing that keeps me going. Prior to my graduation from the academy I met a young man name Pavel and his brother, Bim. Pavel's words to me were what started the whole thing.

"There you are! I was about to go in and wake you up! Master Tathra was looking everywhere for you."

I smiled slightly, wondering who this strange boy was and what my arms master wanted to tell me that was so darned important. Maybe I'm telepathic, because the boy grimaced slightly and continued with, "Sorry, you must think I'm crazy."

I nodded. "Strange men don't often come to my door and tell me that they were going to come in and wake me up."

He grinned. "I'm Pavel" he said jovially, sticking out his hand.

I shook it firmly. "Kestral. Kestral Fynn."

"I know." he said nodding, his light brown hair tossing about wildly. "Look, I'd love to talk, but Master Tathra sent me to tell you that Lady Aribeth wants to speak with you after your tests!"

My eyes must have widened ten times their normal, overly-large size because he grinned even wider and patted my shoulder in a comradely fashion. "Don't worry! I but she's only heard the best things about you! That's all I've ever heard."

Again my eyes widened. "I have a reputation?"

"As the best fighter in the academy."

My eyes now narrowed. "I can spell for a lie."

Now his smile faded. "I mean that as the honest truth. You're good Kestral. Very good. Did you think it'd take long for masters higher up to hear about you? Anyway, you best hurry."

"Where is the Lady Aribeth?"

"In the room you'll congregate in after you ace your tests. South Assembly Room."

"Thanks."

"Good luck!"

I frowned at his retreating figure and contemplated the young man for a moment. He was a stalwart, honest-looking fellow. Human, maybe with a trace of elf in his blood, if his skin tones had anything to say. I shrugged and tightened the belt on my bard's robes. No sooner had I done that and started down the hallway towards the training rooms, then a young man who looked almost exactly like Pavel, stopped me. "Did my brother talk to you?" he asked, panting and trying to catch his breath.

I nodded. "He told me that Lady Aribeth wanted to talk to me."

"Good. By the way, the name's Bim. I'm Pavel's brother."

"Nice to meet you." I said, shaking his hand. "Look, I'm in a bit of a rush..."

"Oh! Sorry, yeah. Mind if I escort you there?"

Mentally I grinned. This guy knew his way around women. Don't ask me how I could tell, by the few words he spoke to me. Maybe it was his odd, lopsided, cocky smile. Either way, I took his proffered arm and we half-strolled, half-hurried to the training rooms. Once there, he smiled, wished me luck and left. I walked him disappear down the hall and out of sight. Mental note, stay away from Bim, unless I'm in the mood to flirt. Now was not the time. Now was the time to show them everything I had learned these past years. Everything that had kept me away from consoling my parents in their last days had now come to a crashing finale. It vaguely reminded me of my first ballad I tried to sing. Although I hesitated in remembering that since in the climax of the song, my harp string broke and my voice cracked horribly. I'll make the short story of my test even shorter. I passed both of my last tests easily and strolled off, sword in hand, to meet Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande.

Ew… short chapter. See the little review button? You can push it now.


	2. Invasion

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to NWN. Short, simple, and sweet.

Chapter Two: Invasion

"I'll Not Have My Future Decided For Me!"

The hall was crowded. I nervously ran a hand through my sweat dampened, short dark auburn hair. My green eyes flicked around the room, taking in all the young graduates of the academy. I spotted a commanding figure in the center of the room shaking hands with a few of the graduates and offering her blessing. The Lady Aribeth had all the haunting beauty of an elf and all the strength of one of the most powerful paladins in all the Sword Coast. She glanced up and saw me; her deep green eyes searched mine for a moment before she beckoned me forward. "Kestral Fynn, I have heard much about you."

That was the third time someone I didn't really know knew something about me. I tried to stop the biting comment, but it came anyway, "You and everyone else. Do people really talk about me behind my back that much?"  
I froze. I wanted to slam my head into a wall, impale myself in my own sword, anything! You just weren't sarcastic around the second most powerful person in Neverwinter. To my great surprise and utter relief, she merely shook her head with a thin smile. "Your pluck may save you outside these walls, Miss Fynn, but it is hardly suitable here."

I tipped my head. "Forgive me Lady Aribeth. My mouth often speaks before I can stop it."

"No harm done. Now, if you must know, yes many people have seen your progress. Students, Masters, even myself and Fenthick." she said, referring to the elven priest. "You have far surpassed your fellow students in your training and in your test, therefore, I have an urgent request for you."

I nodded.

"You know of the Wailing Death ."

Wailing Death is what they decided to call the thing that stole my life from me. I found it to be good name for the abomination. I nodded again. I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell her how it had taken my family from me and how I was all alone now with no one outside the walls of the academy waiting for me. No home to go home to. None save the academy of course. I was loathe to hear the rest of what she said. I didn't want to leave now. Suddenly, the immensity of what I had just accomplished was washing over me. Graduating the academy meant leaving the walls that were my only home. Leaving the only family I had now for a world that I didn't know anymore. "Miss Fynn, are you listening?"

I glanced up at her and cringed. "I'm sorry. Could you repeat whatever you just said."

"I said," she began a bit tersely. "That the four magical creatures might make the cure. You must help me pro--"

Suddenly the room was rocketed by a rumbling and a flash of light. There was a cruel laugh and a voice chanting a spell. A mage? Here? Trying to kill us? The thoughts weren't coherent, it didn't make sense and yet, it did. I drew my sword and charged behind a chanting Aribeth. I sang a spell of strength. Tyr knows I needed it! My sword flashed along with Aribeth's and the mage was slain. Goblins appeared everywhere and out of thin air. Skeletons grew from nothing. Hastily I fought them off. The hall was clear. Panting, Aribeth ran up to me. "They must have a magical tracking on me. They probably thought I was with the creatures. You must go protect the creatures! Here's the key. Go out the door and down the east hallway."

I nodded. "I'll do my best."

Aribeth smiled. "Yes. Yes, you will. Be careful, there are likely to be more goblins afoot. I have no idea who the mage was, but he was a high level. Stay sharp."

I nodded again and hurried out the door. I was suddenly beset by three goblins. I dispatched of them and rounded another corner straight into a human wall. I jumped back, ready to attack, when I heard a familiar voice cry, "Stop! It's me, Pavel!"

"Pavel! Why are you--"

"Bim is dead!" The young man interrupted.

"They're everywhere. Goblins and skeletons and a few mages have gotten in. I don't know why, nor do I know how, but we need to join forces to get out of here alive!"

"That'd be wise." I agreed. "But I have to do something for Lady Aribeth. It's of the utmost secrecy and importance. Can I trust you."

He nodded, his face showing sincerity. I had to be sure. "I'm sorry," I apologized ahead of time. "this isn't about you, it's about the safety of Neverwinter. I'm going to have to truth spell you."

He nodded grimly. "I understand."

I cleared my throat and chanted a truth spell. He glowed green. "You're good. Hurry! We have to find the Waterdhavian creatures!"

We rounded the corner and met up with a tall, particularly evil-looking mage. I swung my sword and in the back round, I heard Pavel chanting a counter-spell, readying an attack spell right behind it. Together we killed the mage. I pulled up beside him. "You didn't tell me that you had magic."

He nodded. "I'm training to be a Cleric."

I might have said something else, but there was a loud pounding behind a door in front of us. I ran over and pushed it open. A lash of light blinded me and I stumbled back into Pavel, who caught me before I fell. "Get the Dryad!" someone was shouting.

"Don't let them escape!"

I wanted to help, but I couldn't see. Everything was white. I clung to Pavel until the light faded, then we both stepped in to see two men. An elf and a human. They both looked rather...put-out. "Kestral Fynn?" the elven man asked, seeing me.

"Yes..."

"I am Fenthick and this is Desther. Aribeth told me that she had entrusted you with the safety of the Waterdhavian creatures."

I nodded. The elven guy was pretty good-looking. For a priest anyway. I could see why Aribeth had a major crush on him.

Fenthick sighed and sheathed his sword in a rather tired manner. "Unfortunately, someone found them first. They've been set free. They're probably wandering somewhere around Neverwinter."

I groaned. "This isn't what I agreed to. Protecting these creatures was one thing. Looking for needles in a haystack of a plagued city is an entirely different matter."

The Elven priest looked regretful. "I am sorry, but the circumstances are dire. We need you're help."

The man next to Fenthick snorted. "Leave the half-grown whelp to her own devices. We don't need her! We have to find the creatures!"

"Steady Desther! We cannot do this alone. There's been a slaughter this night."

"There's a slaughter every night! People are dying all over the city! We have no time for half-trained, green-ears."

I couldn't just sit by and listen to this Desther fellow berate me! No matter how little I wanted this task, I'd be damned before I let anyone tell me that I was a "half-trained, green-ears"! "Don't you dare tell me about the slaughter. Here or in the city! I know of it better than you do!"

Desther fixed his steely gray eyes on me and snorted. "Well, the whelp has a tongue. How do you know what's behind academy walls?"

I hesitated to tell him, so I said, "That's not for you to ask. My secrets are my own. I'll help you. If not for the sake of Neverwinter, but for my own glory and a nice, hefty reward."

If I had been trying to sway him through my honor, I sure wasn't doing a good job! But hey! I needed money too!

Fenthick glanced impassively at me. "There is no reward for failure. You were sent to protect the Waterdhavian creatures and now they're gone. Forgive me for placing blame, but it is the truth."

Up until this time, Pavel had been silent behind me. In fact, he had been pretty silent since I found him after his brother had been killed. Now he spoke and his voice quivered only slightly. Only my sensitive, half-elf ears caught it. (Although I'm sure Fenthick caught it too.) "Who was here before us?" he questioned angrily. "We tried to rush in but some blasted magic kept us out!"

Desther threw up his hands and shook his head. "See what I told you, Fenthick! Had they both been better at their craft, they could have found a counter-spell! They're nothing more than half-trained whelps! The whole lot of them!"

"Nevertheless, they're all we have! Few have escaped the attack tonight. The guard is running themselves thin with the plague, the riots, and the rumors. Whether they want to or not, they must help."

Sure, I wanted to help. I needed something. I had nothing outside these walls and helping Fenthick and Aribeth would occupy me until I found whatever it was I was truly looking for in this life. However, it's the principle of the matter! They say that I'm important. That I'm...well, whatever special thing they think I am, and yet they go and decide my future for me! Every part of my being rebelled. Once again, I spoke before I could stop myself. "I'll not have my future decided for me!"

Everyone looked at me. Desther was gloating, Fenthick looked like a mix between worry and pity, Pavel looked angry. I sighed. "See here, it's one thing to ask for help. It's another thing to demand it."

"Then I ask...no, I plead for you to help us." Fenthick corrected himself.

Pavel answered for us. "We'll help you as long as you need us!"

"Good. Then come to the Hall of Justice in a week. Lady Aribeth will explain everything there. Now we must leave and assess the damage done to the academy. Until we meet again." He bowed slightly at the waist.

Desther tipped his head, still looking annoyed.

They were gone. I turned to look at Pavel. "What? No money to pay for an inn? It's been a good many years since I've been outside these walls."

Pavel looked like he wanted to talk about my behavior with the two men, but at my words, he cocked his head and asked, "I thought you had family in Neverwinter."

I shook my head. "No."

He might have questioned me further, but the look on my face stopped him. "Well, I have parents in the Peninsula District. We can stay with them."

He had parents in the midst of the plague ravished city? "They don't have the plague?"

He shook his head a negative. "They're safe for now. As safe as anyone can be."

The unfairness of the situation was nearly too much for me to bear. My parents had lived in the Peninsula District too! I wanted to yell at him, but it wasn't Pavel's fault. It was no one's but the Plague and whatever or whoever caused it. So we started for the Peninsula District.

Another short chapter…sorry ya'll. I really need to start making these things longer.

Review please!


	3. Devastation

Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. Thank you!

Chapter Three: Devastation

Life Outside the Academy Walls

I hadn't ever imagined what life outside the walls would be during the plague. We were never allowed to leave during our training years. However, had I imagined life in Neverwinter, all my dreams would not have come even close to reality. I assumed the sick to be in beds in the Hall of Justice. But no, they lay out in the streets. Flies buzzed around us and the stench of burning flesh was enough to make me retch. I emptied whatever had been in my stomach. Twice. The night sky was light up by the fires of the dead. Mass funeral pyres were at every corner. Pavel tore up his cloak into strips for me to tie around my mouth and nose. That helped a little, but my eyes still stung. "Which way?" I asked, my voice muffled by the cloth.

It had been ages since I walked these streets. Pavel looked lost as well. "I'm not sure." he mumbled.

We headed for the first gate we saw and sure enough, it was the right one. The guard let us in when I told him we were the survivors of the attack on the academy and help for the guards. "Head on in. Keep your wits about you. Things'ave been restless lately."

I nodded. "Thanks for the warning."

"Oh! One'or thing! If you see a fellow by the name of Amendel Silverhand, give him this."

He handed me a long package, which I took and balanced carefully as I would a sword. "He's got dark hair and a raven a'ways follows 'em."

I nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Good. Thanks."

As it turned out, the Peninsula district wasn't much better than the city's core. The dead still burned and it still stunk. We found Pavel's home only to learn that his parents had died of the Plague a few days prior. Saddened and weary from the happens of the morning and the evening, we lodged in a run-down inn near the prison. After procuring two, fairly-clean rooms and a semi-hot dinner. Pavel retired to his room, claiming he was weary. I think the poor fellow was more than weary. But men can never admit when they're sad. So I sat in a darkened booth with my glass of wine and watched as the guests of the inn slowly left the dinning room for bed. I was hardly tired, though my back ached something terrible. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, like I always did when I was restless or worried. I was broken from my musings of self-pity by the flapping of wings. An abnormally large Raven swooped through the opened window and landed precariously on the shoulder of a fellow at the bar. "Silverhand! You know I hate that thing inside! Especially in the dining hall." bellowed the disembodied voice of an old woman.

Probably the old woman who had severed Pavel and I dinner earlier. _Silverhand. _The name had been burned into my mind. "Amendel Silverhand?" I breathed the name aloud, but it was little more than a puff of air that tried to form the name.

Nevertheless, the man spun about. He wore a black cap low over his eyes. It covered his head and ears, but there was no mistaking the color of his eyes. Fiery, emerald green, they bored deep into my own. Of all my cursed luck. You see, there's a certain thing about elves and half-elves. Namely, they don't like each other. Now to a human a half-elf looks like an elf, but to an elf, they look like humans and elves have reasoned in their minds that the gods made them better than humans and thus that is how they act. So for an elf to marry a human was a crime in their eyes and the offspring of such a union was even worse. It was easy to read the distaste in his eyes. He had heard me say his name, of course, as his ears were highly sensitive. His cap covered the tips so I hadn't known he was an elf until he looked at me. I swore and he heard that too. His face twisted into a look of arrogant-humor. "Does my fame precede me, half-elf?" he asked with a sort of smile

I felt the tips of my slightly-pointed ears burn. I fought whatever blush might occur on my cheeks and raised one eyebrow in an attempt to look indifferent to the obvious distasted in which he proclaimed my race. "Hardly. But your raven friend does."

He stood, walked over, and slid into the bench across from me. Everyone went about their own business. They obviously knew something I didn't know. He was taller than I...quite tall--even for an elf. He leaned close and asked. "And why might you know my name?"

I fought the natural urge to lean away, but leaned closer to prove that I was not intimidated. "I was told to look for you."

Noses almost touching, we had a stare-down. Everyone else in the dining hall left and the old woman owner retreated into her kitchen. Yes, they definitely knew something I didn't know. It began crossing my mind that this fellow might be an assassin. Although why the guard at the gate, who obviously knew him, was giving him a gift of some sort, didn't support the supposition. Perhaps he was a spy for the guards. An un-uniformed guard to keep the peace with the more stealthily and disreputable people of the district. Then it hit me. The raven wasn't a simple pet, it was a familiar. This elven-man was a sorcerer. The truth of the observation hit me hard. I blinked, losing the battle of stares and slammed my head into the wall behind me. Stars flashed in my mind and eyes and the sorcerer grinned. "You're quick. It takes most people much longer to figure that out."

"Spell or my expression?" I asked carefully, rubbing the back of my head.

Sorcerer or not, I refused to let this arrogant man make a fool of me. Although he pretty much had done so already. "Don't feel too bad, lots of people get that expression when they realize who my friend is." he turned his head slightly to address the bird. "Ryn, meet Half-elf. Half-elf, meet Ryn."

"I have a name." I protested.

"And it is...?"

I swore silently. I had just put myself in the position of breaking a cardinal rule when meeting someone you had doubts about. Any stranger for that matter. Names. Although I suppose it didn't really count that much, since I sort of knew him by knowing his name. In a bard's life, names are very important, which was why I resented being simply called by my race. Leaving the fact of his obvious dislike of half-elves beside, a simple name of Half-Elf was like stabbing a bard in the back. Yes, it stupid, but that's just the way things are. I stammered slightly. "You're a bard." he mused aloud.

He was good. "And no doubt one of the survivors of the academy."

"How would you know?"

He smiled strangely. "You have the look of battle about you. A failed battle, but a battle nonetheless. Besides that, there's blood on your sleeve and you're not infected by the plague."

"How do you know I'm not infected?" I asked pointedly.

"Well, you're here, aren't you. And you don't have the stink of decay. So, my mysterious half-elf, do you have a name or shall I name you?"

"Don't!" I cried before I could catch myself.

He grinned widely. "Ah yes, that old Bard-thing."

I lifted my nose a bit into the air. "Things that have names are already named. I said I have a name and therefore I'm already named. To name me again would alter things drastically."

"How?" He leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on them, looking rather interested.

"I can't tell you why. It's too hard to explain. Let's just say that's important in the flow of time and history."

He nodded. "Continue."

"About what?" I asked cocking my head and frowning.

He was getting a bit more than annoying.

"You were going to tell me your name."

"Kestral Fynn."

"Hello Kestral Fynn. I'm Amendel Silverhand. It's a pleasure to meet you." he sat up and stuck out his hand to shake.

I ignored it. "I was told by the man who guards the Peninsula District Gate to give you something."

"Where is it?"

"My room."

"Then you lead."

"Like I'm going to show you where my room is!"

"Well you don't have to. I am a sorcerer. You have Bard Magic. I could just follow that scent and find your room easily. Or I could put a tracking spell on you."

"You sound like a dog."

"I have a Raven, ma'am. Not a dog. Raven's happen to like shiny things. Ryn could follow you by that sword you carry. So are you going to deliver the package to me or not."

"Maybe I'll simply keep it."

That was the wrong thing to say. Amendel began glowing a faint black, his eyes became like fire as he glared at me. "That would be unwise." he intoned in a otherworldly voice.

I was scared. Heck, I was more than scared, but I wasn't about to let him know that! I narrowed my own eyes and cast a simply counter-spell. My fear dissipated immediately and I smiled smugly as he sat back and frowned. "You clearly don't have a weak mind."

I stood. "Do you want your package or not?"  
Now that I had the upper hand in surprising him, I was going to play it for all I was worth. Which at this point in time, wasn't overly much.

Amendel stood and towered over me. I whispered another counter-spell, but still he rather intimidated me. No magic there. I swore silently and began walking to my room without looking back. I knew he was following me, I could feel his shadow and it unnerved me more than anything.


	4. Examination

Disclaimer: Same as always. I still don't own NWN. Bla…I do own my characters though.

Chapter Four: Examination

Assessing the Problem at Hand...or Problem**_s_**

I made Amendel wait at the door while I retrieved the package. It was lying on the small desk by the bed and when I picked it up it seemed heavier than before. I made to move it off the table and the weight was unbearable. It slipped from my hands, but didn't hit the floor. Amendel appeared behind me, holding the package carefully, glaring at it and whispering something in a language I had never heard. Most likely a spell, but I had never heard it before. He was in my room and he wasn't moving. He was whispering to the thing in the brown paper. So I pushed him. He glanced up, as if he had no recollection of where he was for the moment and then he smiled. "Sorry about that. I couldn't have you dropping this."

I wondered what it was, but I had the sense not to ask. "No problem, now go."

"I think I might come back to visit you."

"Then know that I sleep heavily armed."

He grinned. "I'm a sorcerer, not much scares me."

"Good for you. Leave."

He walked over the threshold, looked back, smiled, and walked off. I watched as he went down the stairs and out of sight.

I slept with my door locked that night and three knives. One at my side, one on my thigh, and the third on the desk in easy reach. I had no visitors and woke up the next morning to a dreary, cold day. My bard's garb offered little protection against the cold as a sleeveless top is not conducive in the cold. Easy enough. However, I had little else in the way of garments since I had left most everything I owned in my room back at the academy. Mostly uniforms, but anything would have been better. Unfortunately, everything I owned at the academy was in the past. I never wanted to return so I sucked it up and banished the cold with a simple heat spell. It wouldn't last long and it didn't do much, but it was better than nothing. I packed what little gear I had, made the bed and went down to the dining hall to find Pavel in deep conversation with Amendel. Simply just my luck! I stomped over, in hardly the best of moods, but neither acknowledged my presence. So I sat for several minutes waiting. When no one said anything after that, I took drastic action. I slid into the booth next to Amendel and blew on his ear. A little trick I learned a long time ago. You see, elves have these really sensitive ears. Either they get really annoyed or really turned on. I was hoping the latter wouldn't be the case. An iron grip seized my wrist. "Go get breakfast." was all he said and let go.

I glanced at Pavel who was smiling slightly, the little traitor, but he did nothing. So I stood and ordered breakfast. As I walked back I berated myself a million times over for being so easy to obey the infuriating elven-sorcerer, but heck, I could have blown on his ear again and he could have loped off my neck and made me explode into a million pieces. Damnation on my pride, I COULD help without word and leave them to their conversation. Pavel obviously trusted him. Of course there was the question of Pavel's own integrity. I had only really met him yesterday. Sure I had trained with him forever, but I trained with many more people. He was just another face in the crowd I tried for nine years to ignore. I came back and sat down next to Amendel again. I would have preferred to sit next to Pavel, but he had his bag on the bench next to him. They were still talking. I didn't care what they were talking about, partly because it was in a language--I must confess--I didn't know, partly because I was tired and hungry and that can tend to make a person not care about things. I leaned my chin on my hands and let my mind drift a bit. Unfortunately, today the sea of memories was turbulent. My mind sailed back to the day I first learned of the plague. The day I first took an interest in things outside of the academy. Outside of what I learned in classes. I became aware of a government that I was training to protect, of people that were slowly dying from the strange, new plague, of my family that was out in the middle of everything. Someday I would remember it in song. Someday this would all be only a memory kept alive by the Bards who sung of it. But for now it was real. And I was requisitioned to stop it. The Waterhavian creatures were the only hope Neverwinter had at the moment. They might prove useless, but not now. I was tossed from my musings by a hand. Actually a finger. It poked me in the cheek, bringing me back to reality. I blinked and looked up at Amendel. He arched a elegant eyebrow at me, looking every bit a regal elf. "You looked dazed. Are you that hungry or are we boring you?"

"Neither." I answered, hardly in the mood to talk to anybody, much less him.

Pavel looked at me with genuine concern in his eyes. "You alright, Kestral?"  
I nodded. "Peachy."

I probably would have confided in Pavel had Amendel not been there. Amendel frowned. "Pavel here tells me that neither of you have any family or place to stay."

I nodded slowly.

Amendel grinned. "I own a few rooms above a tiny shop not too far from here. Damn Wanderlust is pulling at me again but there really nowhere I can go until the plague is stopped."

I nodded again. I had experienced wanderlust before. Nothing very strong since I was only half-elf. The academy had pushed whatever I had out of me. It was more a full elf thing. My mother had it. We used to move from the Peninsula District to various tiny houses just outside the city walls. I think we had a full circle that we did every year. Amendel and Pavel were looking at my strangely. I realized that I must have had the dazed look again. Some guard I was going to make, dazing out whenever there was a lull! Suddenly a plate was pushed in front of me and the spicy-sweet scent of cinnamon and sugar wafted up to my nose. I took the spoon beside the bowl and dug into the soupy mixture of oats, milk, honey, cinnamon, and sugar.

After breakfast we packed or things and headed for Amendel's 'house'. It was above a shop that was owned by a nice couple with three children. None of them had the plague, but I could tell that they lived in constant fear of it. I swore again in my mind to find a cure. Amendel owned three tiny rooms above the shop. He shared the kitchen with the family on the bottom floor where they resided behind the actual shop. I trudged up the stairs behind Pavel and Amendel and took the first room I saw. Amendel pursed his lips. "That's my room." he said stiffly.

"Pardon me." I replied and stalked out. One bedroom looking room--Amendel's, a tiny study with a desk and bookshelves, and a sort of sitting area that was cluttered with papers. I set my stuff down, shoved some papers out of the way and sat on the hard, wooden chair. Amendel stalked in with Pavel. He didn't look terribly pleased, more rather annoyed. I rather thought it was at me since he seemed on good terms with Pavel. "You may take my room. Pavel and I will share this room."

I resisted the urge to smile, picked up my things and put them in his room. It was a modest affair. Reasonably clean with a large bed and a rough, wooden armoire. It smelled faintly masculine, but not a bad scent at all. It had the hint of cologne on the sheets. I didn't feel like sitting around, so I left the room and looked into the sitting room. Pavel and Amendel were talking in that strange language again. Amendel looked more than perturbed now, so I went downstairs to check out the shop.

"Hello." a Halfling woman greeted me with a slight smile. "You're a friend of Amendel's aren't you?"

I nodded. "Well, not a friend, more an acquaintance. He offered to help my friend, Pavel and I. We're survivors from the academy attack." I explained more than I normally would have since I didn't want the lady to think I was Amendel's lover or anything awful like that. "Kestral Fynn." I inclined my head slightly.

The woman's smile became genuine. "I heard of the attack. I am very sorry. You're welcome in my house as long as you need to stay. I am Kileen Highill. My husband and I own this shop."

I glanced about and saw strange items. Most looked very magical. "Magic items?" I inquired.

She nodded. "I studied as a Cleric a bit before I married. My husband, Gaelan, is a wizard. I sense you have some magic in you."

"I'm a bard." I said with a smile. "Just like my father was."

"An honorable tradition." Kileen agreed. "Would you care for some tea?"

"Tea would be wonderful."

It had been so long since I was in the company of a real, honest-to-goodness, non-battle trained member of my gender that I wasn't sure how to act. I hadn't had tea in years and I think I grasped the cup a bit more tightly than I should have. Kileen was quite a talker and didn't seem to mind my rather apparent sense of unease. I was thankful, but still restless. My rescue came in the form of three children. The first was a young girl who couldn't have been more than eight. A tiny, little wisp of a thing with a head of black curls and bright grey eyes. She dashed into the kitchen with leaves sticking out of her curls. She was followed closely by a hooded older girl pulling along a toddling boy who looked no more than two. (All ages in human years, since I've always been bad at ages for other races.) "Mommy, mommy! There's bad men outside. They--" she stopped, trying to catch her breath as her fingers wrung her patchwork skirt nervously. "--tired to hurt Dal. Meryn used her magic and Aerch came to help. Then they--" the child began to sob and the hooded girl rushed over to her and took her in her arms, murmuring soothing words in her ear. "The bad men tried to hurt me. They said they'd infect me with the plague!" she wailed.

"Meryn! Is this true?" Kileen demanded of the hood girl who still held the black-hair child.

Meryn nodded wordlessly. During this time of the black-haired child sobbing in Meryn's arms, I hurried over to the little boy, Dal and led him over to Kileen. The boy looked up at me with wide grey eyes like soft, rain-filled clouds. He held tightly to my hand, as if he knew I was a friend. I heard enough to know that they had tried to hurt all the children. "Are they still out there?" I asked quickly.

All eyes turned toward me--except for Dal's which were already fixed on me--as if they'd forgotten I was there.

Meryn nodded.

I switched Dal's hand to his mother's and drew my sword. "I'll be right back." I assured them and strode out the back door. People just didn't threaten children with the plague. In fact, they didn't have a right to threaten them at all. Let alone with the plague. I found three, burly men leaning up against the wall that made up the tiny back courtyard of the Highill's shop. They obviously had the plague. They stunk of rotting flesh and had vivid, oozing sores on their hands and faces. I shuddered when I thought of the children being touched by them. "Hello gentlemen." I said in quiet voice that held my anger back just barely.

They leered at me. "'Ello pretty lady. What's a nice thing like you doin' with a big sword?"

"No reason really. Except that I know how to use it."

They grinned. "But you can barely hold the thing, let alone swing it."

"I might not even need to use my sword." I said with a shrug.

"You ain't one of those damn magic users are you?" the tallest and most ruthless--probably the most sick--questioned, growing serious.

"I may be."

He spat a curse to the god Tyr concerning magic folk. And they all began to advance on me. I would have held them off. In fact, I could have slaughtered them easily. Taken revenge for the Highill children and vented out my own anger against the plague. Unfortunately, they all turned tail and ran. I wasn't stupid enough to think it was me. I heard a spell whispered and felt magic. I spun around to see Amendel, lowering his hands. He looked serious for the first time since I had met him. "Let's not have bloodshed here." he whispered, motioning with his head towards the door where Meryn, Dal, and the black-haired child--whose name I still did not know--watched through the crack. Shameful, I sheathed my sword and nodded my thanks. I followed him back in where the black-haired child tackled him with a hug. "Lord Silverhand, that was brilliant! You scared them off!"

He smiled, hugged her, and set her down to go talk with her mother. The child came up to me as the words "Lord Silverhand" were still trying to process in my brain. _Lord Silverhand? _"Hello, I'm Enid. You were very brave to face them for us. Even though In don't even know who you are."

I smiled and stuck out my hand. "Kestral Fynn. I'm staying with Amen--Lord Silverhand with my friend Pavel. He kindly offered us a place to stay. We were from the academy."

The girl's face dropped to a look of sadness. "I'm very sorry. Mommy told me what happened. I do hope you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Good!" She grabbed her other siblings' hands and pulled them over. "This is Dal."

The boy toddled over to me and wrapped his arms around my leg. I picked him up and balanced him on my hip. "Pleased to meet you good sir."

He grinned and gurgled something. "He doesn't talk much." Enid explained. "He likes to gurgle." she pulled her hooded sister over. "This is Meryn. She's the oldest. She doesn't talk much either. Except to say spells. She's a wizard."

"In training." came a voice from behind the hood.

It was a soft, hoarse voice that sounded like Meryn almost never talked. "Yes, in training. Daddy's teaching her!"

Meryn might have been blushing, but it was hard to tell since all of her face save her eyes were obscured by a hood and cloth. Amendel and Kileen came back over then and Kileen sent Enid and Meryn off for some firewood. Dal refused to leave me, so I continued to hold him. "He's taken a liking to you. He doesn't do that with many people. And never so fast. You must really be something special."

I shrugged. "Just a guard, Lady Kileen."

"Kileen. No lady. I'll not have you use titles around here."  
I smiled. "Now excuse me while I find another cup. Amendel needs his tea. He drinks all that watered down tea at the inn, it's no wonder his sick." she scolded and bustled off.

I glanced at Amendel who was smiling after the woman. "You don't look sick." I observed.

He turned to me and his smile grew wider. "I'm not. Kileen likes to think I am so she can have an excuse to fuss like a mother."

I nodded. "I've heard that mother's do that."

He cocked his head and stared off at the wall. "Yes, they do. My mother did."

"Did?"

"Yes, she and the rest of my family live...elsewhere."

I nodded. "What about your mother. Did she fuss over you?" he asked me.

I took the moment to look down at Dal, who was playing with the leather ties on my shirt. "I don't remember." I said and dropped the subject there.

Guess what time it is now…hint: read the little button


	5. Intuition

Disclaimer: I still don't own NWN, but I still own my characters.

Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews Shadow0015 and Guan! Yes, my knowledge of NWN isn't as solid as I'd like it to be, but for the record I am changing things around a bit. Some will be small things, other will be quite large things. Anyway, a few comments on the reviews, I always wondered what Pavel did after getting out of the academy. I mean, there was a lock-down on the entire city, since I couldn't explain that, I had him come along with Kestral! I can't remember if Kestral's CG of TC. Bla. The the "bard thing" actually came from mythology. If I remember correctly. Names were very important to bards. Changing what has already been properly named is a very bad thing for the flow of history and life and such. Now this next chapter kind of bugs me. Kestral does something that I would consider very stupid. But, it does go along with what will come into the plot later. So, yeah, it may seem really odd now, but everything WILL be explained! It will! I promise! Glad you like it and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Raven "Siren's Muse"

Chapter Five: Pavel's Fate

A New Problem to Deal With and a Shove Out the Door

I spent the afternoon with Dal. Amendel was with us for a little while, before he claimed he had errands to run. Kileen, Meryn, and Enid had chores to do. And Kileen assured me that I would meet Gaelan when he returned from his own errands. So Dal and I sat and watched them work for awhile. Then we played games with our hands for another while. When it was nap-time for Dal, we slept in the comfy chair by the fireplace in the cozy, tiny sitting room next to the kitchen. I dreamed. I don't quite remember what, but I knew I was in it. Pavel was too. We were running. But I could see what it was we were running from. I remember fear filling me. I somehow knew that I couldn't escape it. Whatever _it _was. I awoke to Dal crying. Kileen took him then and the boy claimed he had a nightmare. _Strange. _I thought. _So did I. _

Gaelan and Amendel returned at the same time--right before dinner. Gaelan was a pleasant fellow. Short like most Halflings, but I supposed he had a bit of human in his blood for he was taller than many male Halflings I had seen. We ate dinner and the family went to the sitting room to talk. Amendel went with them. It was then I realized that I hadn't seen Pavel all afternoon. I hurried to the upper apartment to find him lying on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "Hello Pavel." I said, plopping on the ground near the head of the couch. "What's wrong? You weren't at dinner."

"Just tired." he said quickly.

I bent over to look at him. His face was ashen and his breathing ragged. I jumped back. "You--you--"

He nodded, coughing. "I assume Amendel knows?"

He nodded again and gave another hacking cough. "He was the one who first noticed it."

"But you're contagious." I stuttered.

"Most likely."

"I--" there wasn't much I could say. Pavel had the Wailing Death . He was putting everyone in danger...but he had the plague. I was watching the same plague that killed my parents kill a good fighter, a comrade, and a friend. I stepped back, shaking my head. 'No, it's just a minor cold. I can cure it."  
"It's the plague. You can't cure it unless you find the Waterdhavian creatures. And even then I don't know if there'll be a cure."

I closed my eyes. I was suddenly very weary. "You can't have the plague, Pavel."

"Why not?"

"You'll die!"

I was stating the obvious and I knew it. But the actuality of someone I knew, I watched, I was watching, having the plague was enough to send me over the edge. My mind was saying that it wasn't the plague. He didn't smell of rotting flesh, nor did he have an sores like the men who attacked the Highill children had. Flung my hands into the air, saying a healing spell before I knew what I was saying. Nothing happened, of course. I sat hard on the ground, leaned my head against the wooden chair and fell asleep. I awoke next morning in Amendel's bed with a cool cloth on my forehead. "So you're awake!" came Kileen's cheerful voice.

I nodded and moaned slightly as I shifted to sit up. "Tsk! No pity for yourself. You don't have the plague. You fell asleep with your head on a hard chair. Amendel found you and said you fainted, but I looked and you and told him that you were just exhausted. Too much in only a few days. But the time for sleeping is over. Get up, there's breakfast at the table downstairs."

"But there's a plague victim in the house! I was near him!"

She looked sad. "He's not contagious yet."

The _yet _hung like a sounding threat between us. There was little I could do. Four more long days separated me from my audience with Lady Aribeth. Four days in which to watch someone suffer from the Wailing Death . I set my face in a firm line and swung my feet over the side. I was thankfully still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Apparently Amendel had more morals than I gave him credit for. I looked at Kileen to find a grin spreading across her face. "If anyone can find a cure to this terrible plague, it'll be you, Kestral Fynn. You've got the look of greatness about you and it doesn't take any magic to see it. I'll keep a plate hot for you. Come down when you're ready." she turned to leave and stopped, remembering something. "Oh and Lord Silverhand wants you to meet him at the Ila's Inn as soon as you're done with breakfast."

"Ila's Inn?" I questioned.

"Yes the inn you were staying at before you came here."

I nodded and she left me to get ready.

I decided not to wear my bard's tunic. It attracted too much attention. If I was to find a cure, I would need to blend it, ask questions, and become generally trusted. A bard couldn't do that, but a barmaid or rogue could. I dressed all in black, but stuffed some gold in my bag. I'd find a suitable dress for a more...revealing disguise, later. I ate a hurried breakfast. None of the children were around. Kileen said that they'd gone with their father for various food items for dinner. I nodded, thanked her for breakfast, and hurried out the door. It wasn't too hard to retrace the steps from the day before. I reached Ila's Inn about ten minutes later and blinked as my eyes adjusted to the dim interior. My eyes scanned the dining hall. It was full of activity and I almost thought I wouldn't find him, but for the raven that brushed past me. I grinned and followed it to Amendel, who was sitting at the bar like he had been when I met him. The raven landed on Amendel's shoulder and squawked loudly. "Hush Ryn! Do you want to get kicked out of here? Have you found my lady half-elf yet? How much sleep does one woman need? Must be the human in her." He grumbled.

I frowned. Just for that I wouldn't announce my presence politely. I walked quietly over, trusting on my elven-feet to make no sound. Once behind him, I drew out my arm to wrap around his neck, but he was faster. My arms were flung above my head and a dagger was staring me right in the face. Amendel swore loudly and dropped my hands. "I could have killed you. What do you mean by sneaking up on me like that? And what's taken you so long? You sleep like the dead. I tried to wake you up. That could get you killed someday."

He might have gone on, but I slid into the stool next to him and lightly slapped him. "Shut it. What did you want to talk to me about anyway? I have important things to do."

"Such as?"

"Save my friend. Or have you forgotten that Pavel's dying?"

Amendel glared. "I haven't that's why I needed to talk to you."

"Oh?" My curiosity was sufficiently peaked.

"But we can't talk here."

"Where the--"

He grabbed my hand, wrapped it through his arm, and led me out of the inn and into the bright sun shine. "And this is a better place to talk?" I mocked.

"Not here, my dear lady. And why in the world did you dress all in black? You stick out like a blighted thumb. We'll have to find you something better to wear and don't suggest your bard's tunic. That would stick out as well."

"I wasn't going to. That's why I didn't wear it." I protested, more than annoyed.

"Well at least you have some sense. Now hurry."

"I don't have the money." I lied, not wanting to go about changing my entire wardrobe and admit that I did stick out like a sore thumb.

It was the principle of the matter.

"I'll pay for it. Call it an early wedding gift of you want."

"Wedding gift? Tyr plague you! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Well for all practical purposes, besides that of a extraordinary disguise, I do need to protect you if you must go about saving Neverwinter."

"Who said you were helping?"

"No one. But I have my own reasons."

"And those other reasons are..." I gestured for him to explain.

"None that I shall be sharing with you."

I hated his entire idea, so I decided to throw it back in his face. "If you're so set of marrying me for "practical purposes" then you'll sooner or later have to tell your wife."

He shook his head. I allow you secrets, allow me mine."

"I hardly know you!" I freed my hand from his and stepped away. "We only met yesterday and suddenly you say you know I have secrets, that you're going to help me with my quest, and that you want to marry me! You have to be out of your mind!"

The elven sorcerer smiled. "Now, now, calm yourself. You'll make a scene and attract unwanted attention."

"Damn the attention. I want to know."

"Well, I may have just met you, but we are beings infused with magic. That creates a bond. Did you not wonder why we both trusted each other so easily?"

"No, because I still don't trust you."

He sighed and took my hand again. "Then you're even less trained than I first expected. Well, I'll fix that problem later. I already gave you my answer about helping you. I wouldn't if I didn't have my own bit to gain. And I'm not speaking of money. And as for wanting to marry you, I hardly _want _to marry you. You're a half-elf! In my right mind I would have simply scorned you long ago. But as I have said before, I need to go on this quest and you need protection. I suppose you could always just be my lover..."

I glared at him.

"See, I didn't think that would go over very well with you."

"Why protect me? You could just do this on your own."

"Hardly. Lady Aribeth chose you for a reason."

"How do you know? I haven't even met with her. I haven't even told you I was meeting with her."

"I'm telepathic. And as for knowing Lady Aribeth chose you, well is it not obvious? You have something about you...for the life of me I can't figure out what it is, but I feel it has to do with finding the cure."

"Stay out of my mind."

He smiled. "It was of urgent need, I won't do it again."

"Good."

We reached the market and Amendel pulled me into a shop that sold fine clothing. A lady met us at the door and scanned me with an appraising eye. I felt like a slab of fresh meat. I glared again at Amendel...for good measure. The woman declared me shapeless and too plain for the popular colors. "She looks best in black. And that red hair! Did Tyr curse you with that or did you do it yourself?" she complained.

I was ready to kill the woman, but Amendel's hand on my arm stopped me. "Shhh, all dressmakers are critical."

I glared up at him. "And you know this because?"

"I have a sister." he said with a grin. "I have been to more dress fittings then I wish to admit. My sister is no plain girl, but the dressmaker always declared her the ugliest thing on two-legs."

Somehow, knowing he had a sister made him a bit more human. I offered a lopsided smile and he smiled back. The woman returned with several beautiful dresses in colors of emerald green, a midnight blue, and dark purple. "Go on String-bean," she said, shoving me towards a tiny closet for changing. "try them on and try not to wrinkle them."

I obediently took the dresses and put on the emerald green one. It was a work of art. And lovely enough...for a dress. There must have been some magic to it, for it lessened my large hips (compliments of my father's mother) and made my almost non-existent chest existent. The cut wasn't the latest fashion. I wasn't playing the part of a noblewoman. Just a woman. I strode out and was immediately railed upon. "You walk like someone who just came from the academy! You're a woman, not a soldier!"

I stifled my smile. If she only knew how right she was. "Glide!" the woman ordered.

I took on a rather humorous sashay over to a grinning Amendel. "I told you I look like a loon in a dress." I whispered.

"You said no such thing and you hardly look like a loon."

I shot him a look. "Don't get like that with me. I won't stand for it."

"Like what?"

"Smiling like that. Looking like that!" I whispered harshly.

He only grinned some more. "Well my lord, what do you think of her." asked the dressmaker.

Amendel considered his words for a moment. Probably deciding which ones would send me over the edge. After a moment he gave me a strange grin (that I did not like) and said, "She's more beautiful than a goddess."

He said it in all sincerity. The woman scoffed and started pushing me back toward the changing room. I glanced back to see Amendel's strange smile still on his lips. "You're lucky there's one man in this world who loves you." the dressmaker complained as she pushed me in the room and locked the door, leaving me to ponder her words.

We bought all three dresses. Or rather, Amendel bought them. I began to wonder if allthe children's Lord Silverhand nonsense was true. He had money to spare. More than a simple wandering mercenary. We ate lunch at Ila's inn and I finally blew up. "This is all well and good, but we are no closer to finding a cure for Pavel!"

"Oh, but we are."

"And how are three dresses going to help us?"

"You have a voice, don't you?"

"If you're asking whether I can sing or not, of course I can sing. I'm a bard."

"Sing for me."

I looked him squarely in the face, trying to gauge his sincerity. After divining that he was indeed completely sincere, I asked, "Right now?"

He nodded.

"What do you want to hear?"

"Something in Elvish."

"People will stare."

"You're a bard, surely you don't mind."

"I have no new tales. They're all old!"

"Make something up."

"Bards do not make things up. It goes against all our rules. We repeat history and legend."

"Legends are just bits of made-up history." he pointed out.

"They have a ring of truth to them."

"So then add a ring of truth to your song."

"No. I'll sing an old ballad that used to be my father's favorite." I decided finally.

I drew my harp from my bag. I always carried my harp. Everywhere. I glared at him once more, before pulling my harp to a comfortable position and taking a drink from my wine. Wine was hardly good for my vocal cords, but it was all I had and I had sung under worse conditions. The first note that left my mouth was less than perfect. Mentally, I cursed my lack of practice. I wove and expert bit of magic into the sound and began to speak Elvish. The language was strange on my tongue. It had been ages since I had uttered anything in the language. Elvish really is a beautiful language. Perfect for song and poetry, but from my mouth it had the coarse accent of one who spoke common...and not even a very proper form of common. I wove more magic into the words, infusing more of my spirit than was probably necessary. I used to do this when I was a child and I didn't want my father to hear my mistakes. If any bards were visiting the inn, they would surely be appalled by my performance. I stole a glance at Amendel who was listening, rapt. I had caught him off-guard for once, but I didn't have the time to rejoice in my victory. The legend was a very old one. It truthfully had been my father's favorite. It was about a Elven hero who was in love with a human sorceress. The sorceress was evil, but the hero insisted to the king that she could be turned for good. The sorceress tries everything to kill the hero, but he prevails through all her tests and finally meets her face to face. She throws her final spell at him and he becomes stone. She puts him in a locked tower in her castle and for many years, she tries to forget about him, but his persistence and love wins over her heart and she goes to the tower to free him, only to find that the spell turned him to stone forever. In her grief, she turns herself over to the king and confesses what she had done to the brave hero who had loved her. The king becomes enraged at the loss of his hero and condemns the sorceress to death. The sorceress in locked in the dungeons and sings a lament so sad and so infused with magic that everyone in the kingdom cries for three days. She does this again, at the end of the third day. But her lament is worse than before. Everyone in the kingdom kills themselves out of sadness and the sorceress in left alone. She escapes the cell and wanders the earth until she finally goes back to her castle and the tower in which the stone hero stands. She tells the stone hero what she did and begs for him to forgive her. But the hero is stone and doesn't answer. She does this for many more days until she finally has enough and curls up in the corner of the tower, waiting to die. During the night, the hero awakens from his stone sleep and sees the desolate sorceress, lying in the corner. He wakes her and she nearly dies of surprise. He tells her how he wanted nothing more than to love her and help her turn her evil ways to good, but the desolate sorceress is sure that she could never do anything good. She tells him of the kingdom, but to her utter surprise, he forgives her. They go and journey long to find a way to bring the people of the kingdom back from the dead. Through the journey they face many hardships and the sorceress learns to use her magic for good. Finally they find a dragon at the top of a great and terrible mountain. He tells them that one of them will have to die to save the kingdom. The sorceress agrees to die and the dragon laughs saying something to the effect of her great courage and goodness has revived the people of the kingdom. They go back to a bustling kingdom. The sorceress formally apologizes to the entire kingdom and then marries the hero. They're given a castle and they live in happiness to the end of their days. A long tale, but not one eye shut. Indeed, every eye was on me as I sung the last note. Even those who did not understand Elvish somehow knew the story. I realized that I had been painting pictures in the dust that shone in the ray of sun through the window. The wisps of dust and air acted out the entire story and fell to the ground as the last note faded. I set my harp down, rubbing my sore fingers. It had been so long since I had played anything that my fingers were getting sore like they had when I first learned to play. Amendel broke out of his reverie before anyone else. I was stuffing my harp into my purse and looking out the window. The song had take away nearly two hours. No wonder I was so tired. My voice was hardly affected because I had been trained to use magic to keep it hydrated. Slowly, the guests came back to the present and began a wild applause. Ila came up to me and handed me a tall glass of water. "Thank you, my Lady Bard. You grace this inn with your music."

I nodded politely to the other who came up to thank me. Then I turned to Amendel. "We should leave." I said quietly, glancing around.

He nodded, took my arm and led me out into the sunshine. I blinked against its bright rays. In the dark of the inn I had felt much like the sorceress in the dank, dark dungeon cell. I glanced up to find Amendel smiling at me. "You never told me you had such a beautiful voice."

"You never asked." I said simply.

He reached down and took my hand. He examined it for a moment. First the top and then my palm. "I knew there was a reason I wanted to help you." he said presently.

I pulled my hand back quick and smiled slightly. "I best get back to the Highill's house." I said quickly, cursing myself in every language I knew of how little I had gotten done today.

Pavel was dying and here I was, with the chance to redeem myself for not finding the cure when my parents first contracted the plague, acting like it was an ordinary day. Singing tales that ended in smiles, buying dresses, and eating like I would live the next day and the day after that. I stalked out of the inn and head back. Dinner was over by the time I arrived, but Kileen fixed some bread and fresh milk with a bit of fruit for me. Dal latched himself to my side and didn't leave all evening. Enid told in great detail, with big gestures of the trip to the market earlier. Meryn sat with us, but said nothing. Occasionally her eyes crinkled up in a smile at something her sister said, but nothing came from the girl herself. An hour or so after sunset, Kileen called her children to bed claiming there to be much work to do in the morning and that "Miss Kestral" was probably tired from her day out. As soon as the children had been tucked into their beds in the next room, Kileen came back to the kitchen, poured two cups of spiced tea and sat down across from me. She gave me the cup and I stared at it for a moment before taking a rather large gulp. It was hot. My tongue was burned, but I didn't notice. "What did you do today?" she asked conversationally.

"Nothing." I despaired in a soft voice. "Absolutely nothing."

"Nothing is the clay for something." she said simply.

"Yes, but this was worthless nothing."

"Nothing can never be worthless!" the woman said with a brilliant smile. "It's nothing!"

I had to grin. She was right of course. "How is Pavel?" I asked, hoping that she hadn't been up to see him and thus ran the risk of catching the plague.

I would never forgive myself if Kileen or any of her family caught the plague. "He's strong." she said after a moment. "The plague will take longer to kill him. He has a fever and goes between sweating hot and shivering cold. Most of the time he's awake, but occasionally he'll lapse into sleep, which I think gives him a brief respite from his pain."

"You shouldn't endanger yourself like that. Stay away from him. I'll stay home tomorrow and care for him. Leave us meals at the top of the stairs."

"You can't just sit and watch him die."

She was right, of course. If I tried to protect Kileen, I'd be killing Pavel. But Amendel had said that he was looking for the cure as well. Maybe he could do it alone. But no, he had said that he needed me. That was why he wanted to marry me. Not for the first time in my life, did I wish I had grown up a simple girl, without the traditions and training of a bard father and a paladin mother. But then the plague might have killed me as well. The future and past were a mess of threads waiting to be woven into Time's tapestry or already woven and tangling into tiny knots that I could never untie and fix.


	6. Solution?

Disclaimer: I own my own copy of the NWN game. I don't own the rights however…but I do own my own characters and there's a lot more of them coming into play soon.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like this chapter, it's…ah, I won't give anything away. Enjoy! Extra note: I changed my story format.

Raven "Sirens Muse"

Chapter Six: Two Days to Defeat

A Shaky Solution and a Temporary Agreement

I struggled into the long tunic I used as nightclothes and curled up on the bed Amendel was letting me use. I wrapped the covers tightly around me and tried to sleep. But I hadn't checked on Pavel. I couldn't sleep. I knew I couldn't unless I knew he still breathed. Cautiously, I crept to Amendel's sitting room to find the man lying on the couch, moaning softly. He seemed to be asleep and he had a cool cloth on his forehead. Gently, I touched his forehead. He was burning with fever and his sleep seemed far from restful. At my touch, he opened his eyes and gazed--through most likely blurry vision--up at me. "Kestral! Did you have a good day. Kileen said you were out."

I nodded quickly, tucking the blanket around him. "It was fine." I decided to admit my failure to him. I dropped to my knees beside the blanket swathed couch. "I didn't find the cure. I didn't even look. I'm sorry."

He smiled. "I didn't expect you to find it the first day."

"But I didn't even look!"

"You will. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not for two more weeks, but you'll look and you'll find it."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. Call it a sick man's premonition."

"How do you feel?" I asked after a moment's silence.

It was a stupid question, but I it had already left my mouth. "Better than I thought I'd feel." he said as brightly as he could.

"Well I'd better let you sleep. Goodnight."

"See you in the morning." he replied.

I went to bed, but didn't sleep for many more hours.

I woke up to a warm body, nestled against mine. My first reaction was to flail and kick the figure, but I didn't. I opened a bleary, sleep-deprived eye and saw the tiny form of Dal, curled up in a little ball in my side. He was up here!? Up in the plague infested loft that was Amendel's home? What if he got the plague? My mind whirled with questions, but all questions ceased when there was a knock on the door. I didn't say anything, but the door opened anyway. Amendel look down at Dal and I. He smiled. "Kileen said he'd be here. But I had to check."

"Kileen knows he's here? But Pavel has the plague and I--"

Dal shifted slightly in his sleep. Amendel put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Kileen's not worried, so you shouldn't worry either. She's quite a smart woman. Dal won't get the plague."

"And why not?"

"He's protected by a necromancer."

I glanced sharply up at him. My quick movement caused the tiny boy to curl further into my side. "Who?"

His answer was immediate. "Me."

Amendel certainly didn't look like a necromancer. Yes he was arrogant and infuriating, but that was hardly basis for grounds of being called a Necromancer. I glared at him and made to sit up. He motioned for me to stay still and came over to my side of the bed, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "You'll wake Dal."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I hissed.

He smiled slightly. "You--"

"Didn't ask. Yes, I've heard the excuse."

"You won't die either." he whispered, leaning close.

"Why would you curse me like that?" I mourned; shutting my eyes and thinking of all the times I wished to join my family in death.

He straightened slightly but was still close enough for me to feel his breath brush lightly against my cheek. "Curse you?"

I looked down. "I don't want to live forever. I don't even want to live as long as I could live."

"Why?"

"Why do you need to know?" I spat, turning to look at the tiny, sleeping figure beside me; the embodiment of innocence and everything I had sworn to protect.

A hand touched my cheek and turned me back to face Amendel. "Why?" he asked again.

"I have no family."

He nodded slightly. "They wouldn't want you to give up. Marry me."

"What?"

"Marry me for the obvious reasons of our shared mission and if having a family will keep you alive, then that can be fixed as well."

"When? How? We only have two days before I have to meet Aribeth at the Hall of Justice."

"Tomorrow. That will give you an entire day to prepare."

"A day? Oh you're wonderful! What makes you think I want to share the rest of my life with a necromancer?"

He shrugged. "It is better than sharing it with no one."

"I would have to argue with you on that one."

He smiled. "Somehow, I didn't think that the woman I proposed to would be so difficult."

I felt a smile tugging at my own lips. "And how would this wedding go?"

"Does that mean you've accepted?"

"Hardly, I'm weighting all the pros and cons of such a union."

"Well, it depends. Have you ever seen a Elven ceremony?"

I nodded. Once a long time ago, I had seen one. It was different, but not in a bad way. Just different. "And who would come?"

"The Highills, Pavel would see it via magic, anyone from Ila's Inn, Ila herself and her family, and anyone who happens by. So, will you marry me?"

I considered. My mind was screaming for me to be rational and I was arguing that it _was _rational. All Amendel's reasons for the marriage were sound. My only problem would be to the wedding night. I wasn't about to go that far with a man I had just met, magical bond or not. Sure we would have to share a room for protection and cover's sake, but there was no way under Tyr's sky--. Amendel must have been sneaking a peek at my mind, because he frowned. "I hardly trust you either." he commented.

I nodded. Then that was the last question. "I'll marry you." I said slowly.

He smiled and leaned forward as if to kiss me. I froze and braced myself but his nose only brushed mine as his hand ran across my cheek and down my neck. "Until tomorrow, Kestral." he whispered, leaving me in some confusion and worry.

Word travels fast. Either that or the walls have ears. Dal woke up a half an hour later and I sent him off to his mother while I got dressed in one of my new dresses and headed downstairs for breakfast...after taking a small peek into the sitting room to find Pavel fast asleep...or unconscious. Kileen congratulated me first thing, while setting a heaping plate of food in front of me. She was going on a mile a minute about dresses and preparations and stupid men who waited until the last minute to propose. She didn't seem the least bit surprised and wondered if she was in on Amendel's little "secret" plan. Either way, after breakfast Meryn, Enid, Kileen, and I waltzed to the market for another awful dress fitting at a different shop then where I had gotten my dresses with Amendel. This woman was oodles nicer and made me feel as if I was the most beautiful woman in the city. It was enough to lift my worries for at least four hours. Sometime after lunch, I opted to head back to the shop while Kileen and Enid shopped some more. Meryn and I walked back in silence. I was met by Amendel and Dal at the front door who both demanded (Dal in gurgles) that I play with Dal since, "Lord Silverhand" had other things to do. I must have looked tired, because Meryn took Dal instead and I went out back to sit in the shade and think. Presently I felt a presence behind me. It was magical and familiar. Two hands rested on my shoulders and a wonderfully, knee-weakening voice breathed in my half-pointed ear. "If I had known this would drain you so fast, I would have given you two days."

I closed my eyes, drinking in the warm shade, trying to ignore the faint stench of death before answering with, "In two days it would be a little too late. I intend to get started as soon as I get a lead from Lady Aribeth."

Lips gently brushed my cheek and the goose-bump-inducing presence moved to stand in front of me. A retort fought to spring from my lips, but I kept it back. Amendel smiled his lop-sided smile. "It shouldn't be so terrible." he assured me.

No, I had to admit, it wasn't as if I totally detested the elven-man. In fact I did feel rather strongly attracted to him. I settled for an all-encompassing nod. "I'm tired. If you'll excuse me."

He helped me to my feet and held me there for a moment, looking deep into my eyes as if he was reading my mind again. Seconds later, I was heading up the stairs to the warm comforts of a bed and the sanity of sleep.

My wedding day dawned early. Much too early for me. My wedding dress hung on a silver rack next to Amendel's armoire. It was a lovely affair, accenting my elven features with its ethereal skirts and fitted bodice. Kileen pulled me out of bed and she and the girls washed my hair and scented my skin with some sort of flower juice. I didn't eat breakfast and I was soon regretting it; besides the fact that my stomach was loudly complaining, reminding me of this small oversight. My hair was pulled away from my face with jeweled clips and I soon wore the beautiful gown. A heck of a lot of trouble to go through to marry someone I didn't really even really like for the sake of a plan. The wedding was held at Ila's Inn, which was decorated rather nicely. Again, more formalities, it seemed. I must confess that I recalled little leading to the actual ceremony, or what we had of it. You see we were interrupted. Everyone had just been seated when an arrow whizzed by my ear and struck a guest I didn't know. I remember being handed a sword and hiking up my skirt. I think I whispered a spell, but I don't quite remember. There were ten of them. Most had the Plague. I dispatched some; I don't know who got the others or even the extent of the damage. Lack of food and so many changes had taken it's toll on me and like any good, pitiful, heroine...I fainted.

When I was younger I remember getting a bride ready for her wedding night. Naturally, I was too young to know what any of it meant, but I did know it was supposed to be special. In small towns outside Neverwinter, a small glade was decorated with flowers and elegant torches. In Neverwinter, a room was rented at an exceptionally nice inn and decorated with candles. Never did the two spent the night in a small, hidden compartment in the ceiling. I woke up to darkness. Needless to say, it startled me greatly. First of all, I seemed to have forgotten everything leading to this point. Even the wedding. Secondly, I could hear the even, slow breathing of someone beside me and an arm was wrapped around my waist. I let out a sharp gasp and felt the arm tighten. "Shhh." hissed a voice I knew.

"What? Where? What happened?"

Amendel's sighed slightly. "I'm not entirely sure." he confessed.

It made me feel eons better. "Great." I muttered, trying to shifted some my vast yards of skirt so it showed less of my thighs. Somehow it had hiked up on me.

The arm around me shifted to the small of my back and we both sat up. I was leaning against his chest in a rather scrunched up position. "It all happened rather suddenly."

I gave a humorless laugh. "You're a sorcerer. Things aren't supposed to surprise you."

I felt his glare through the dark. "I'm not a god."

"Necromancers play with death like gods."

"No, we were given the ability. Few in this land can be necromancers. It takes an innate sense of death and it's gates that cannot be learned. Spells can be learned, but they are useless without the sense of death."

I shrugged against him and didn't comment further. I was a bit ticked at not knowing where I was or how I had come to be here. "You don't remember anything?" I pressed him with first question.

"Very little. I remember the wedding was about to begin--"

"Oh right! I forgot about the wedding."

He must have glared at me again. "I also remember being attacked."

"So are we married or not? Because I do not remember saying anything or kissing you."

"I don't know about the speech, but the kiss I can fix.

I was turned about and he lightly brushed a soft kiss across my lips.

I wasn't in shock. I had rather wondered what he'd do after the "kiss" comment slipped out of my mouth. Although I hadn't fully prepared myself for the feeling it sent through me. We sat there for some time. Neither of us wanted to leave since we weren't quite sure exactly WHAT we were hiding from. After a moment, I commented, "So I'm not officially married to you?"

"Not that I recall." was his response.

I groaned. "And I missed breakfast for nothing!"

"I think we're married." Amendel said finally. "I can read your thoughts pretty clearly. I wouldn't be able to do that unless I had a _very _strong bond with you or I was married to you. And as you're wondering, no, I didn't intend to spent my wedding night cramped in a small space waiting for who knows what and not even sure how I got to be here."

I snorted. This was just great.

Meryn Highill glanced over at the tiny being that flew beside her. The pixie looked more worried than usual, which was saying a lot since Aerch was always worried. "Come on, Meryn! Get up!"

Meryn glared at her and nodded slightly as to say, "Hold your horses!"

"I really don't know what happened." Aerch continued. "We had just sat down, the wedding hadn't even begun! They attacked without warning."

Meryn rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I know bad guys normally attack without warning. But at a wedding?"

Meryn shrugged and mouthed the word, "Enemies."

Aerch had become quite a good lip reader in the years she had spent with the girl and knew immediately what Meryn was suggesting. "Of course one or the other might have enemies! They both seem like the kind of people that might acquire enemies easily. Although for all Lord Silverhand's nobility, you'd think he would know better."

Meryn mouthed something about necromancers and Aerch laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's his best excuse. Now, get up. Your mother's probably looking for you."

Kileen and Gaelan lay dead. Kileen was sliced from throat to stomach, her insides spilling out onto the wood floor. Gaelan was decapitated. His head was elsewhere. Most of the guests at the party had been captured and systematically slaughtered and mutilated. Their throats were cut and many were missing various appendages. Enid retched until her stomach could heave no more. The young girl was beyond her tears and now stared in horror at the mess that would forever haunt her, waking and sleeping. Dal was alive, but unconscious. Enid was glad for this. She would get him out before he woke up and saw things. He wouldn't understand anyway. She picked up his little body and half dragged him into the inn and up the stairs. A few bodies lay in the hallway, so she dragged him to a tiny room and laid him on the fairly clean bed. She wondered where her sister was and if Miss Kestral and Lord Amendel had survived. Presently, there was a knock on the door. Enid froze and threw herself over her brother. The door opened and a man looked in. "P-please...don't kill him!" she sobbed, the tears finally returning.

The man frowned and walked in. "Shhh. I'm not here to hurt anyone. What happened?"

"I--I don't know!" Enid covered her face with her hands and for a while only the sound of sobbing filled the tiny room.

Through her tears she could vaguely see the man turn around and a white shape appear behind him. _It's Tyr! Coming to take us to death! _She thought, half glad and half afraid.

"Find Rapture quickly. Tell her I found someone alive. Two some ones to be exact."


	7. Distraction

Disclaimer: Still don't own. Still don't make any money whatsoever.

Chapter Seven: Distraction

A Waking Nightmare

I shifted my cramped sleeping position and in turn, elbowed my new husband in the face. Husband. Damn the word! I didn't want to be married. But apparently, I was. With an elbow planted in his eye, Amendel stirred and pushed the offending appendage away. I was pushed against the wall and thus protested loudly. "Sorry! I wouldn't have elbowed you if there had been more room to move."

"Oh, I pushed you? Sorry Kestral, it was innate reaction." he apologized, while he helped me into a more comfortable position.

"How long do we have to stay here anyway? For all we know, whatever danger made you come up here is gone. Besides, I have to be at the Hall of Justice. Either today or tomorrow, depending on what day it is."

Amendel sighed. "I suppose we could."

I grinned in the dark and pushed the panel beneath my feet and promptly fell. I landed hard on the wooden floor and found myself looking into the face of death. I screamed. Amendel, who was already worried because of my fall, reacted instantly, flaring up with a black light. "Kestral!"

I must admit I felt tears filling my eyes as I looked into the sightless, pale, grotesque face of Kileen Highill. Out of the haze of tears, I saw Amendel return to normal and glance down at the body. Sadness filled his eyes. "Tell me you can bring her back." I pleaded, grabbing his arm.

He shook his head a negative. "She's beyond my aid."

I burst into a fresh bout of tears and felt the bile welling up in my throat. "I'm going to retch." I muttered.

Amendel muttered some spell and gathered me into his arms. "Don't look. Come on, let's see if we can find out how this happened and if there are any survivors."

We only found more death...worse than Kileen. Amendel found Gaelan's head and placed it respectfully beside his body. I was deposited in a corner while Amendel set to giving the dead their last rites. I felt foolish, but I knew very few people could stand seeing these kinds of deaths. Amendel was a necromancer, but I could tell by his face that he was as disturbed as I was. Presently, he returned and sat beside me, gathering my limp form into his arms. "Did you find the children?"

"No."

That both cheered me and at the same time I felt worse. Either they were alive and free or dead elsewhere or alive and captive. "Let's go find Pavel. He was watching in Gaelan's magic mirror, he probably knows what happened.

Merrik had calmed the young girl's tears enough for her to fall into a restless sleep. Kyton returned with Rapture not long after the girl had fallen asleep. The short woman glanced around the doorframe and saw the children. "Are they alive? You know I don't understand Kyton's speech. I was never proficient in Wolvish."

Merrik nodded. "They're alive, but the girl's seen the dead. I fear she will be much different when she awakens. This kind of shock is too much for a child."

Rapture nodded, her short black hair swinging into her eyes. "She'll be withdrawn for sure. Poor dear! She's so young! Did the boy see anything?"

"I don't think so."

Rapture bit her lip as she looked at the two children, both the only survivors of the terrible attack. "It's sunset, we'd better get them out of here before moonrise or we'll have trouble."

She took the small boy into her arms and Merrik took the girl. "Was there anyone else alive?"

"I didn't find anyone else."

Rapture sighed and hurried out into the evening.

Amendel half-carried me, half dragged me back to the Highill's shop. He set me down in the Highill's living room and went to talk to Pavel. It was then that I noticed the shop had been searched. "Bastards." I muttered, carefully examining the messy shop for clues.

The shock had worn off and only anger remained. A blood-lust for revenge on whoever slaughtered the Highill family. Amendel found me wandering the room with cold purpose. His brows raised only slightly at finding me up. "They ransacked the place." I told him, although he could clearly see the damage.

"Pavel's unconscious." he said, taking my arm and leading back into the living area.

"Shit." I swore yet again—I always swear when I'm stressed. "Do you think it's their fault?"

He looked at me questioningly. "The bastards." I clarified scathingly.

Amendel was taking this better than I and his calm observation of things was annoying me. "Damn it, Amendel! Fine! Finish thinking while I go meet Aribeth at the Hall of Justice. When you quit being so damn calm about things, come help. If not, don't bother finding me. I might end up sticking a knife in your back."

He nodded and let me leave. The bastard could go to hell for all I cared, I was going to stop the slaughter of innocents with a righteous indignation that even surprised me.

Lady Aribeth was waylaid to the Hall of Justice by a rather strange visitor. It was not that the visitor was unknown to her, for she knew his name quite well, but never thought that he might ever grace Neverwinter with his presence. "I hear the cure has disappeared." he went straight to the point unlike most members of his class.

Monks had the habit of turning everything into bizarre parables and tended to skirt around the main point, riddling one into the point of utter confusion. Yes, he was exactly as she had heard. She skipped the formalities herself and followed his lead. "They're hiding in the city. Rumor has it that the creatures are the cause of the mayhem that runs alongside this damn plague."

He nodded. "And your heroes?"

"Are failing." she admitted. "Although I might have found the right one."

"Good. Has this hero started?"

"No, I intend to give her the details today."

"Then I should meet her."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I've waited long enough, if not too long."

"She's as fiery as ever." Aribeth warned.

"I'd hope so." the man smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

I hurried through the darkening streets. I would be late, but no one would care when I gave them a piece of my mind. I would make sure of it. Before I could get very far, I felt an invisible force stop me. I was no monk, but I could feel a ki slightly. It was Amendel. I has wondered how long it would take him before he came after me. He grasped my arms gently. "Someone's coming." he whispered, his breath brushing my half-pointed ear.

We hurried to a darkened corner beside a closed building and watched small girl in a green hat hurry past us. She was looking around and I knew instantly that she had been following us and was now looking for which way we had gone. Amendel stepped out in front of me and stood watching the small girl for a moment before stepping into the new moonlight. "Who are you looking for?" he asked harshly.

The child jumped and spun about. It was then that I realized that she wasn't a child, but a gnome—although for a gnome she seemed rather young. "You're dead!" she cried in surprise.

"Siado?" Amendel questioned, caught off guard for once in his life.

The woman/child nodded with a frown. "But, you're dead!" she repeated again. "I saw you die!"

"I'm a necromancer, Siado. I can't die."

"But the sword!" the girl protested. "There was so much blood! I assumed—"

"You assumed wrong. What are you doing here? Why were you following us?"

"Us?"

Amendel nodded and motioned for me to step out into the light. I was a sight. Dressed in my simple white gown that I had used as a wedding dress, but the gown was stained with blood, dirt, and substances I didn't want to think about. "This is Kestral Fynn. She's my…well…she's my wife." he paused, then added so low that even my sensitive half-elven ears barely picked it up, "At least I think she is."

Siado was gaping at me and I found myself nervous under her gaze. "Hello." I muttered.

Amendel looked annoyed at my behavior and turned to Siado. She really is more active than this. She was top graduate at the academy."

I glanced up at him. I didn't remember telling him that. I barely liked the fact myself. Why would I brag to him, of all people? "She seems nice. Your parents wouldn't approve."

Amendel glared at the girl. "I don't give a damn about what they think anymore."

"So you'll not accept."

"No, I won't. I told you that before I left. I don't want to hear anymore about it."

The girl sighed. "They're searching for you. And if they find out the _she's_ with you, they'll kill her. If they can't kill you they'll kill her. And they'll make you watch as they torture her." she stated, glaring pointedly at me.

Amendel surprised me by grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him. "They do and they're dead. You'll be dead too. I gave you pity before. I don't intend to do it again."

"Whatever." the girl shrugged. "Just keep your bitch close."

I'd had enough! I broke from Amendel's grasp and drew my sword, all in one smooth motion. The sword nicked the girl's neck just slightly and held steady. "Want to run that past me again?" I questioned in a low, dangerous voice.

The girl smiled. "So you aren't completely lost." she said to Amendel. "Bravo Lady Silverhand. You're better for him then I thought you'd be."

"Do you want her dead or free?" I asked Amendel.

"Let her go back to her masters." he answered quietly.

I lowered my sword and watched as she grinned and ran off. I didn't sheath my sword until I was sure she was gone. Upon my sword's return to its sheath, Amendel lightly turned me about to look at him, his hands rested comfortably on my shoulders. Somehow, I could tell that he was slightly embarrassed. It was the first time he had admitted to anyone that he'd married a half-elf and somehow his pride was wounded. I had no pity on him for that. I did however pity whatever relationship he'd had with that girl. She betrayed him somehow. That was obvious enough. I knew she hadn't been a lover. Even as short as she was, I could tell that she was young. Somewhere around 15 years old in human years. She was probably like a sister-of-sorts to him. Carefully I laid my hand on his cheek and poured whatever comfort I had into his spirit. It was a trick I'd learned from my mother. Whenever I was sad, she'd pour comfort into me and everything would feel better. It seemed to work only slightly for Amendel, but the results were good enough. He straightened, took my hand in his and we hurried on to the Hall of Justice.

The Hall of Justice had been turned into a infirmary of sorts as nurses fruitlessly tried to save the dying. Unlike the city, the Hall didn't smell as bad. It must have been a spell. When we reached the Hall of Justice we found Aribeth in conversation with a tall monk. He was unimposing as monks go—until you feel their attacks—with dark reddish hair that was pulled back into a long pony-tail and a goatee on his chin. He was half-eleven, with his ears a bit more pointed than normal and vibrant green eyes. For some reason I felt as if I should know him, but I dismissed the thought quickly. Amendel noticed my hesitation and wrapped an arm about my waist to propel my forward. "Lady Aribeth?" he asked in a commanding voice.

The Lady turned to look at us and smiled. "Ah! Kestral Fynn! You're a bit late."

"I'm sorry. We had…trouble. Oh, yes, this is Amendel Silverhand. And um…it's no longer Kestral Fynn, it's Kestral Silverhand."

Aribeth's eyebrow raised interestedly, but she didn't question, she simply nodded. "Would you like the information?"

"Please."

"Okay, you might have heard rumors about finding a possible for the plague. Well, the fact is, the rumors were true. We found four creatures with the elements to create a cure. Unfortunately someone set the creatures free. We think one went to each area of the city. You'll be looking for a Intellect-Devourer, a dryad, a cockatrice, and a Yuni-tu. You'll have to kill three of the creatures, but the dryad should come easily. We'll need the Intellect-Devourer's brain, cockatrice feathers, and the heart of the Yuni-tu. It shouldn't be too hard for you. You're the best fighter to come out of the academy in a century. And with a necromancer now at your side…I hope to announce the cure soon."

I nodded feeling slightly nervous. This was a big task. I could only hope I…we…could accomplish it before more people had to die. Suddenly a terrible thought came to the front of my mind. _What if Amendel doesn't want to go on this difficult quest with you? What if he leaves you? _As much as I hated to admit it, I depended quite a bit on Amendel in all the few days I'd known him. I had no idea what I'd do if he left me. _Get on with your life? _My mind supplied.

I hoped I'd never have to find out.

My thought were thankfully interrupted by Aribeth's voice. "Oh, Lady Silverhand, I'd like to introduce you to Brother Gariel Fynn. He has recently journeyed here from the north to assess our situation and help in any way he can."  
Brother…it had a double meaning. Aribeth was smiling and Gariel had a small smile on his own face. I did recognize that face…those eyes. It had been years. I thought he was dead. "Hello Kestral. It's good to see you again." he said calmly.

How could he be so calm? He's been gone for years! He's the one who left mother and father to die! I snapped and ignored his proffered hand. "You…" I hissed. "You had the nerve to come back here? Finally through with your precious training. Or did you come back because there are no more distractions?"

Amendel's arm tightened about my waist and his other hand grasped my shoulder. Gariel's face dropped. "Kestral, I'm…I'm sorry about mother and father…"

"You're sorry? That's it? Mother and father aren't coming back. They're gone. It's not something you can just be _sorry _for! How could you? Damn you fucking bastard!" I screamed in his face causing anyone within a mile radius to look up. The sick groaned from their places on the mats and the nurses looked on in worry. "Kestral.." Gariel began again.

I shook my head furiously. "I don't want to hear your excuses."

I turned to Aribeth. "I'll get started in the morning. I won't fail you. I curtsied and pulled Amendel into a bow. Then I yanked myself from his grasp and stalked back to the Highills' shop. Upon reaching it, I collapsed on the rug in front of the fireplace, bursting into wrenching sobs. Seeing Gariel had opened up the pain of when my parents first died. And the pain of my beloved twin leaving for what seemed to be forever. Through my tears I could sense Amendel's uneasiness. He hesitated by the stairs before going up and muttering something about checking on Pavel. I don't know how long I cried. But it was quite awhile. Deep, hoarse sobs, shaking my entire body as I lay on the rug. Amendel came back down and finally ventured toward me. Slowly he pulled me into a sitting position and gathered me into his arms. "Kestral, stop. You'll make yourself sick."

I shook my head and then promptly retched on the rug. He sighed and released me to get water and towels. When he returned, my sobs a trickled down into a silent downpour of tears. He gave me the water and cleaned up the mess. When he came back a second time, he gathered me back into his arms. "You're going to bed. We have to fulfill your promise to Lady Aribeth tomorrow."

There were no questions, no words of comfort. But I didn't need those things. It was uncanny how he knew exactly what I needed. He hoisted me into his arms and carried me up to his room. "Get changed." he said softly and left the room to check on Pavel again. I changed into my clean, white, thin shift and silently wished I could have bathed. I felt extremely dirty. I crawled into bed when Amendel came in. He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Pavel's getting worse. You're not to go near him. He's very contagious now."

"But what about being in the same house…on the same floor?"

"We'll have to move downstairs and I'll spell the stairs as best as I can."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Amendel gave what could have been a ghost of a smile and blew out the candle. My unadjusted eyes were thrown into darkness and I heard rustling as Amendel changed. Then the bed shifted as extra weight was added. I felt his presence next to me and wondered if I'd be able to sleep that night with him so close. "Goodnight." he whispered in the dark.

I scooted over as far as I could and tried to will my over-anxious mind to rest.


	8. Investigation Part One

Disclaimer: Eight chapters later I still don't own the rights to NWN.

Author's Note: It's been a while since I've written one of these. Well, I'm posting this finally. I meant to do it a few weeks ago, but I kept working on the chapter and now it's rather long. I'm actually STILL working on the chapter, but I decided not to let ya'll wait and post this part early. To sum it all up: chapter eight will be split into two chapters. Yeah.

Sorry, I've been horribly busy as of late. I always hate the writers who wait FOREVER to post and now I've become one of them! gasps Shame on me!

Okay, a few questions to answer and forgive me for not mentioning my wonderful reviewers by name, I don't actually have the review window open right now.

Concerning Necromancers and not dying, it's my own little thing. Artistic license will be used liberally throughout this whole story. I'm using necromancers I read about a forever ago. They could go to the last gate (death) and if they so chose, they could find a way to not enter that gate and thus die. Basically. Yeah.

Yes, she's falling for him rather quickly…well there's a reason for that. All shall be explained…hopefully. Okay, anything else I need to say? Hmm…I think that's it. Thank you all for your reviews! I really don't thank my reviewers as much as I should. Perhaps in a future chapter I shall thank you all by your names…er…nicknames anyway. Enjoy the chapter.

Raven "Siren's Muse"

Chapter Eight: Investigation

And the Tiny-horned Menace

I awoke feeling warm and drowsy enough to go back to sleep. But that's what ended up waking me. I shifted to find myself curled up against Amendel's side with his arm around my waist. I frowned. Sure I was married to him. It was okay, right? Somehow it didn't seem okay. I gently pried myself from his grasp and he shifted a bit in his sleep. He must have been up most of the night trying to prolong Pavel's life. I did remember hearing him mutter something about necromancers and spells to stop illness. In whatever case, it seemed unusual for the cautious Elven necromancer to be such a heavy sleeper. I smiled down at him with some sort of look that could have been considered loving—or annoyed. I dressed quickly into plain leather pants and a cream tunic, pulled my dirty hair back and went downstairs in search of a bath. The washroom was neat and orderly with a small screen a nice large tub, and a water heating contraption. I heated some water rather quickly, filled the tub, stripped off my clothes, and sank in. The water was nice to me sore muscles and stress from yesterday and I lingered there for a time before starting to wash up. Presently the door creaked open. I was thankful for the screen when I heard Amendel's voice from the doorway. "Kestral?"

"I'm here. I felt so dirty from yesterday. We'll have to wash the sheets before we move to the lower rooms. They're probably full of dirt and whatever else was on us when we went to bed.

"Aye. I'd forgotten in all the happenings of last night. I'll start moving things."

"I'll help you in a few minutes."

The door shut and I finished washing, dried off, dressed in a different pair of clothes that I had thankfully taken down with me, although I didn't remember doing so, and dried my hair before combing it out and letting the wet strands pool around my shoulders. It had grown longer. My hair always grew longer when I was stressed. Some strange magic thing. I located a pair of scissors and carefully cut it back to its original slightly-past-the-chin length. I finally emerged from the washroom and found Amendel cleaning Killeen and Gaelan's room out. His face looked pained and I felt a distinct sadness emanating from his mind. "You can go wash now, I'll finish up here."

He nodded and turned to leave, but not before I saw the bit of blood staining his shirt sleeve. "Stop!" I ordered, grabbing his other arm and prodding the wounded one lightly. "What happened?"

Amendel glanced at it and shrugged. "It's nothing."

I rolled up the sleeve and noticed a distinct twinge of pain coming from his mind. His face, however, remained impassive. The wound looked like a large scrap against something metal. "I need to clean this."

"No, I'll do it."

He didn't yank his arm forcefully from my grasp, but it did startle me. He stalked out and left me staring after him for quite some time.

I hated waiting for anything. I always have and I always will. So while Amendel was bathing, I left to do a little poking around. I did leave a note on the bed that I'd finished moving saying that I'd be back in an hour. The streets were as depressing as before. People trying to make a living with the stench of death around. I sighed, turned around, and saw something strange out of the corner of my eye. As I finished turning, it had disappeared. But I wasn't that easily deterred. I hurried over and glanced around a side alley to see the back of child retreating quickly. I took me only two seconds to solve the mystery of her hasty departure. Something nearby exploded. I was propelled down the alley, into the child—who ducked behind some boxes—and finally finishing by slamming into the wall…hard. Pain filled my senses and I vaguely heard myself cry out as a child's cry quickly echoed.

"Lady? Lady are you alright?" someone was calling to me from my tiny haven.

I gained consciousness and was immediately filled with a intense, shooting pain in my back. I groaned. It even hurt to do that! "What was that?" I managed through gritted teeth with my eyes still closed.

"It came from the prison." was the answer.

I tried to shift myself but my back wouldn't cooperate. "Someone's coming!" the girl hissed and I heard sounds as she scurried to hide.

I cursed myself for going out alone and letting this happen. If it was a diseased person, it would be my own damn fault if I died or worse. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a blackish/purple blur and felt the familiar ki before my eyes slid shut again. Damn…it was worse. Amendel would give me hell for this one. "Kestral!" I heard his worried voice coming from somewhere, but I wasn't going to attempt opening my eyes again. "Kestral!" he was closer, his hands gently prodding me for injuries.

Talk about guilt trip. I felt like crying. Not from pain, but for causing Amendel such worry. I could feel his worry in the air around me. Sharper than the pain in my back and heavier than my motionless limbs. "Kestral! Please answer me."

"She's not dead." said the child who had apparently come out of hiding. "She's probably unconscious."

"What happened?" he snapped.

Even, I, as unmoving as I was, wanted jump up from the tone in which he said his words. _Careful!_ _She's only a kid! And she did save my life. Had I not followed her, I'd probably be dead. _

"The prison. There was an attack on it. Some explosion from over there. She went flying into the wall. Something's wrong with her back."

Amendel's hands moved to my back as he carefully tried to pull me away. I cried out in pain and nearly did pass out again. "Are you trying to kill me?" I asked in a pained whisper.

"Kestral!" he whispered thankfully.

His voice carried more than relief. "I don't think I broke my back, but something is wrong with it."

He pulled his hand from my back and we both saw blood. "You're going to have to lay on your stomach." he told me.

"Only if I can filter my pain through our link." I responded, gritting my teeth.

"Fine. Sure."

He moved me onto my back and pain tore through my being. I passed it along to him and watched him nearly topple upon receiving it. "Kes—tral—so sorry." he managed.

"You have rocks stuck in your skin." the child observed.

"As if I couldn't feel them." I mumbled.

"Hush, Kestral."

"Please Amendel, just knock me out or something." I managed through gritted teeth.

"I—" Amendel looked loathe to cause me pain, but there would be pain either way. "I've got a sleep spell scroll, I can just modify and make it deeper."

"That's dangerous." the girl said. "She could go into a really deep sleep and die or something."

"She's right." Amendel admitted.

"I don't care right now."

The look in Amendel's eyes was hard to place, but finally he consented. He swept back my hair gently and took a scroll out of his coat. He read it aloud, his hands shifting above his head as he drew out the needed spell runes. He added an extra rune at the end. The only reason I knew this was because the last two runes are used in bard music to make people fall into a nice, natural sleep. I felt sleep close in on me and I knew no more.

I remember being warm and surprisingly pain-free. I remember shifting to snuggle deeper into the warmth and I remember a voice telling me to wake up. And that's exactly what I did. "You're pushing me into the fire." muttered a familiar voice. "You're as close to me as you can get and as warm as I and the fire can make you."

I cracked open an eye to find Amendel's bright green eyes smiling down at me. It took me two seconds to realize where I was, but longer to figure out what had happened. We were back at what I considered "my house" in front of the fire, wrapped in the biggest blankets Amendel could find. I was pressed into Amendel's stomach, my arms squeezing his neck as if my life depended on it. I was wearing a thin white shift and Amendel was still wearing his clothes that I had last seen him in. Everything that had happened came flooding in on me. "The explosion, the girl—"

"Shhh." Amendel cautioned and gestured with his head towards our room. "She's asleep. The child looked as if she'd never seen a bed in her entire life. I had to let her sleep in it."

I nodded, feeling sorry for the poor girl. "As for the explosion, it came from the prison. There was a break—" he felt my body tense and shook his head a negative. "You may feel better, but your back still is in danger of becoming infected or worse…diseased. We're not going to look into it until I'm confidant that you're better. Now go back to sleep."

"I can't…"

"Why not?"

I sighed. "I need to look into the prison break now!"

"The guards are keeping everyone contained. We still have a few days before our assistance is needed. Please sleep."

"You don't understand!" I cried, frustrated.

"No, I don't. Can you explain whatever is bugging you instead of filling your mind with confusing emotions. It's a bit annoying."

"If I don't do this, I'll have failed Gariel."

"Who?"

"My brother…the monk. He's the last family I have left. Whether or not I'm mad at him for leaving I refuse to fail him like I failed mom and dad."

"You failed no one. But you might end up failing someone if you don't let yourself rest and heal."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer until my head was resting on his chest again. I could hear his steady heartbeat and my mind started to fall back into the haze of sleep. I felt him rest his chin on top of my head and mutter something, but I couldn't make out what he said. I fell into a restful sleep.

I awoke in a bed the next morning. I cracked my eyes open to find myself alone and still wrapped heavily in blankets. "Brother! She's awake!"

"Thank you, Morgale." I heard Amendel respond from elsewhere.

The little girl who I had inadvertently saved my life last night was standing in the doorway, her jade Elven eyes sparkling with youthful vigor. She was a tiny thing, a pure-blood elf with two little silver hoops glittering on each pointed ear. But she also had two silver horns sticking out of her long, golden hair. I wondered about that for a moment, before the girl interrupted my thoughts by cheerfully announcing, "Brother made breakfast! Gooood cook!"

"An accomplishment I don't want you to spread around town." Amendel good-naturedly ordered the child as he appeared next to her with a tray laden with food. "It would ruin my manliness, you know."

I had to grin as the little girl's pure laugh filled the room. "Morgale, go fill the tub with hot water so I can clean Kestral's wounds."

The girl nodded and dashed out of the room. "She's half dragon?" I asked him as he set the tray on the table beside my bed.

"Aye. I think so. She hasn't told me of course, but I can sense it. The only things I really know about her are her name and the fact that she can't find her family. Now eat everything. You haven't had a good meal since the attack."

In the end, I only nibbled on my food while Amendel pestered me about my eating habits. When I was finished he disposed of the garbage and returned, saying that he had to clean and dress my wounds. Carefully, he helped me untangle myself from the blankets. My back began to burn when I stood and I ached all over, but tried not to show it on my face. It would just make Amendel fuss more and I didn't need that. He helped me to the washroom where Morgale sat next to the almost full tub, talking to her stuffed dragon. "It's all ready!" she chirped when she saw them. "I'll go clean the kitchen now!"

"She certainly likes to help."

Amendel smiled only slightly. "I think she feels as if she's imposing on us. I tried to tell her that it's no trouble, but she refused to listen. Okay, now you're going to have to take off your nightgown and wrap this towel around yourself. I need to see your back."

I could feel the tips of my ears burning. "Turn around." I ordered, gathering what was left of my dignity and pride.

He did so without argument, but my ears refused to return to their normal color as I stripped off my nightgown and wrapped a towel under my arms. "Okay, I'm finished." I managed to say.

I had left the opening of the towel in the back and he pulled it apart gently. Cold air hit my bare skin and I shivered slightly. I don't know whether or not he really noticed, because he never commented. I was quite glad about that really. He dipped a old towel in the water and pulled a blue bottle from the shelf behind him that I hadn't noticed earlier. He poured some liquid from the bottle on the towel and placed a firm, but gentle hand on my bare shoulder. "This might sting." He warned, his voice sounding rather odd.

He was right. It stung horribly and I bit my lip until I tasted coopery blood. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

He cleaned my back as quickly as he could and closed the towel quickly. I tightened the tuck that kept my towel together and stood to face him. "Thank you."

" Kestral…" he groaned, sounding annoyed.

"What?"

"Your lip is bleeding."

"It hurt."

"I know, I'm sorry." He muttered, handing me a small cotton cloth and making me hold it to my lip.

He sighed and looked as if he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent. I, on the other hand, felt my stupid towel slipping. He was holding my hand to my lip so I had one hand free but I still couldn't fix my towel with one hand. The towel didn't care, it just kept slipping. "Umm…Amendel…"

The elf in question was staring off into space, not listening at all. _Oh gods. _I cursed. _This is just not going to be my day, is it? _The towel barely covered my breasts now. I tried sucking in my stomach and pushing them out so they'd keep the towel up, but sadly, I was never overly endowed. It did nothing. Gravity took over and I barely had time to keep the towel in front of me as it fell. I violently pushed Amendel away and tried to preserve my dignity by re-wrapping the towel as quickly as I could. However, my face was as red as my hair by now and my ears were on fire. "Out!" I sputtered, pointing to the door for emphasis. "Out!"

Amendel frowned, but complied. I felt bad for treating him like that after he'd helped me so much, but, hell, I was embarrassed! I really didn't care at this point. To further prove my point, I threw off the towel and sank into the slightly warm bathwater and decided to soak my pride for a bit before facing the world again.

An hour or so later, I was dressed in a loose tunic and breeches. I was sore beyond belief, but it wasn't quite as bad as it had been. I wandered into the living area and found neither Amendel or Morgale so I curled up on a rather warm chair and stared off into the distance for a bit. When I got bored of that, I wandered into my room to get my harp and found Amendel sprawled out on the bed, looking haggard in a hardly restful sleep. He was tossing about a bit, muttering things as his eyes whirled about under his lids. I frowned and sat carefully on the bed next to him, positioning my harp against my shoulder. I bit my already sore lip as I tried to recall the notes to a song my father used to play when Gariel and I couldn't sleep. It was in Elvish, so the lilting language added the right touch to the magical notes that poured from my faithful instrument. Soon, Amendel's muttering and thrashing ceased and he began to sleep more peacefully. I set my harp down and pulled a blanket over him. He was almost angelic in repose. An angel of death, but I tried to forget that part. I reached out to brush a lock of hair from his eyes, but a hand grasped my wrist and two brilliant green eyes sprang open. Immediately, he let go of my wrist, apologizing profusely. "It was an innate reaction. I'm sorry, Kestral. Did I hurt you?"

"No." I soothed, although my wrist stung a little. "I'm sorry I scared you. You were having a nightmare—"

"I was?" he interrupted, looking worried.

"Yes. But after I sang a bit, you calmed down. I was trying to make you more comfortable."

Amendel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, only succeeding in messing it up a bit more. "It's alright, I need to wake up anyway."

My lips tilted downwards even more as I took in his exhausted features. "Go back to sleep. You need it. We'll look into the prison break tomorrow."

I felt the urge to reach out and touch him, his cheek, his hair, anything to sooth him. As infuriating as he could be, he had been quite nice to me. He saved my life, the least I could let him do was help him rest. In the end, I did reach out and touch his cheek gently, but only for a moment because my brain felt fuzzy the longer I stared at him. "Sleep." I whispered. "Please."

His eyes shut for a moment before springing back open. "Pavel! I need to go check on him."

"I'll do it."

At this, he sat up ramrod straight and grabbed both my shoulders. "No!" he commanded as an odd purple haze began to form around his body. "Promise me you'll never go up to see him. Promise me!"

His sudden changed knocked all the words from my head, I could only gape at him for a moment. "Promise me!" he ordered once more.

The words echoed in my mind and I felt myself nod. "I promise." I muttered.

The haze faded as his grip on my shoulders became more gentle. "Good." He replied with a slight smile.

He pulled me forward and placed a hasty kiss on my forehead. "How does your back feel?"  
Any sense that had been returning to me after his command had been lost when he kissed me. I simply nodded, not hearing him at all. "Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Wha--?"

"Your back. I asked if it was sore."

"A little."

"Well I apply more of that healing substance to it tonight."

I nodded and after a moment, asked, "Where's Morgale?"

"I gave her the children's room. She's probably sleeping."

"You ought to be too." I reminded him.

He frowned, but lay back down. Seconds later he was asleep.

I walked to the living area feeling slightly lonely when a sudden wave of fear and pain assaulted me. I felt my sense leave me as I sank to the floor, unconscious.


End file.
